Agriculture

Crop residue and stubble burning has long continued to be a perennial menace after the post-harvest of paddy in North Indian states especially Haryana, UP, Punjab and Rajasthan. The practice of stubble- burning is a chronic problem caused by the vicious wheat-paddy cycle, free power to run tube-wells and other subsidies on seeds and fertilisers even at the cost of precious subsoil water.
After harvesting of paddy, there is a short window of two to three weeks for farmers to ready their fields for the next crop, i.e. wheat. Consequently, they set the stubble on fire without bothering about the consequences.
This leads to following issues:

• Pollution: Emits large amounts of toxic pollutants in the atmosphere which contain harmful gases like methane (CH4), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Volatile Organic compounds (VOC) and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which adversely affect human health. Delhi’s smog is one such consequence.
• Soil Fertility: Burning husk on the ground destroys the nutrients in the soil, making it less fertile and increases soil erosion on sloping land.
• Heat Penetration: The heat generated by stubble burning penetrates into the soil, leading to the loss of moisture and useful microbes.

Though the government provides incentives and subsidised machines for small and marginal farmers and has also declared stringent measures such as Section 188 of the IPC and the Air and Pollution Control Act of 1981, stubble burning remains a major issue in North India. Therefore, diverse and holistic long-term solutions need to be devised, such as:

• Use an enzyme that decomposes stubble: Spraying an enzyme, which decomposes stubble into useful bio-fertilizer, will prove to be an effective method to check air pollution.
• Installation of air filters near farm-fire areas: Air filters can be installed at places where farm fires incidents are being reported and limits for burning of stubble should also be set for the farmers.
• Voluntary compliance: Voluntary compliance coupled with effective official assistance needs to be well formulated. For this, the cooperation of village panchayats, farmers unions, NGOs and existing agriculture infrastructure should also be solicited in addition to perceived channels.
• Utilizing crop stubble: Instead of burning of the stubble, it can be used in different ways like cattle feed, roofing in rural areas, mushroom cultivation, packing materials, fuel, paper, bio- ethanol and industrial production, etc. Eminent agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan has suggested setting up of ‘Rice Bio Parks’,
• Run biogas plants on stubble: Biogas plants that run on stubble should be set up and farmers must be shown the field demonstrations carried out by the agricultural department which shows that there is an increase in yield if stubble is incorporated in the field for three-four years. Stubble could be used for mulching by vegetable growers.

Practices like the Gram Panchayat of Balloh village in Bathinda, which had announced Rs. 500 per acre subsidy for not burning stubble in the fields can be emulated as a model practice. Coordinated efforts of all stakeholders and aggressive campaigning and awareness of ill-effects of stubble burning on human life and soil health among the farming community must go hand in hand.